CVE-2026-54525 (GCVE-0-2026-54525)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-10-14 19:06 – Updated: 2026-10-14 19:06
VLAI
Title
Markdown Preview Enhanced: One Click RCE via Markdown Link Command Injection on Windows
Summary
Markdown Preview Enhanced is a Markdown preview extension for Visual Studio Code. Prior to 0.8.28, Markdown Preview Enhanced preview-link handling passes a decoded, Markdown-controlled link target to a Windows file-opening helper that invokes child_process.exec with the start command. When a Windows user opens an untrusted Markdown file and clicks a crafted external or unsupported-scheme link, shell metacharacters in the decoded target are interpreted by cmd.exe as command separators, allowing an attacker-selected command to run with the privileges of the current VS Code user. The attack requires one normal preview-link click but does not require malicious workspace configuration, script execution to be enabled, or additional files. This issue is fixed in version 0.8.28.
Severity
8.8 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE
  • CWE-78 - Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')
Assigner
GitHub_M CNA under the mitre root
CNA scorecard C 72/100 over 7637 records in the last 180 days details
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
shd101wyy vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced Affected: < 0.8.28
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Show details on NVD website
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "product": "vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced",
          "vendor": "shd101wyy",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "\u003c 0.8.28"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "Markdown Preview Enhanced is a Markdown preview extension for Visual Studio Code. Prior to 0.8.28, Markdown Preview Enhanced preview-link handling passes a decoded, Markdown-controlled link target to a Windows file-opening helper that invokes child_process.exec with the start command. When a Windows user opens an untrusted Markdown file and clicks a crafted external or unsupported-scheme link, shell metacharacters in the decoded target are interpreted by cmd.exe as command separators, allowing an attacker-selected command to run with the privileges of the current VS Code user. The attack requires one normal preview-link click but does not require malicious workspace configuration, script execution to be enabled, or additional files. This issue is fixed in version 0.8.28."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "attackVector": "NETWORK",
            "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
            "baseScore": 8.8,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
            "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
            "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
            "scope": "UNCHANGED",
            "userInteraction": "REQUIRED",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          }
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-78",
              "description": "CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command (\u0027OS Command Injection\u0027)",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-14T19:06:59.440Z",
        "orgId": "a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa",
        "shortName": "GitHub_M"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "name": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/security/advisories/GHSA-7v6f-3vq6-r373",
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_CONFIRM"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/security/advisories/GHSA-7v6f-3vq6-r373"
        },
        {
          "name": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/pull/442",
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/pull/442"
        },
        {
          "name": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/pull/2318",
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/pull/2318"
        },
        {
          "name": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/commit/5588ca2121c3da43fe331575dc5cf4ef347b91ee",
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/commit/5588ca2121c3da43fe331575dc5cf4ef347b91ee"
        },
        {
          "name": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/commit/dcd80281c986293b93d9f1af34ced64dcb230c77",
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/commit/dcd80281c986293b93d9f1af34ced64dcb230c77"
        },
        {
          "name": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/releases/tag/0.9.29",
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/releases/tag/0.9.29"
        },
        {
          "name": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/releases/tag/0.8.28",
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/releases/tag/0.8.28"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "advisory": "GHSA-7v6f-3vq6-r373",
        "discovery": "UNKNOWN"
      },
      "title": "Markdown Preview Enhanced: One Click RCE via Markdown Link Command Injection on Windows"
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa",
    "assignerShortName": "GitHub_M",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-54525",
    "datePublished": "2026-10-14T19:06:59.440Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-06-15T18:40:01.651Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-14T19:06:59.440Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "nvd": {
      "cve": {
        "affected": [
          {
            "affectedData": [
              {
                "product": "vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced",
                "vendor": "shd101wyy",
                "versions": [
                  {
                    "status": "affected",
                    "version": "\u003c 0.8.28"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ],
            "source": "security-advisories@github.com"
          }
        ],
        "cveTags": [],
        "descriptions": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "value": "Markdown Preview Enhanced is a Markdown preview extension for Visual Studio Code. Prior to 0.8.28, Markdown Preview Enhanced preview-link handling passes a decoded, Markdown-controlled link target to a Windows file-opening helper that invokes child_process.exec with the start command. When a Windows user opens an untrusted Markdown file and clicks a crafted external or unsupported-scheme link, shell metacharacters in the decoded target are interpreted by cmd.exe as command separators, allowing an attacker-selected command to run with the privileges of the current VS Code user. The attack requires one normal preview-link click but does not require malicious workspace configuration, script execution to be enabled, or additional files. This issue is fixed in version 0.8.28."
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2026-54525",
        "lastModified": "2026-10-14T19:17:17.480",
        "metrics": {
          "cvssMetricV31": [
            {
              "cvssData": {
                "attackComplexity": "LOW",
                "attackVector": "NETWORK",
                "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
                "baseScore": 8.8,
                "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
                "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
                "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
                "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
                "scope": "UNCHANGED",
                "userInteraction": "REQUIRED",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
                "version": "3.1"
              },
              "exploitabilityScore": 2.8,
              "impactScore": 5.9,
              "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
              "type": "Secondary"
            }
          ]
        },
        "published": "2026-10-14T19:17:17.480",
        "references": [
          {
            "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
            "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/commit/5588ca2121c3da43fe331575dc5cf4ef347b91ee"
          },
          {
            "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
            "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/pull/442"
          },
          {
            "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
            "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/releases/tag/0.9.29"
          },
          {
            "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
            "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/commit/dcd80281c986293b93d9f1af34ced64dcb230c77"
          },
          {
            "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
            "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/pull/2318"
          },
          {
            "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
            "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/releases/tag/0.8.28"
          },
          {
            "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
            "url": "https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/security/advisories/GHSA-7v6f-3vq6-r373"
          }
        ],
        "sourceIdentifier": "security-advisories@github.com",
        "vulnStatus": "Received",
        "weaknesses": [
          {
            "description": [
              {
                "lang": "en",
                "value": "CWE-78"
              }
            ],
            "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
            "type": "Primary"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}



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